"I really didn't expect that Cao Cao had such a great ambitions. He actually wanted to annex Yuan Shao's entire power, occupy Hebei, and then fight stubbornly with our army."

After learning that Cao Cao began to attack Yuan Shao in full swing, Zhang Ji said.

But Zhang Chao smiled and said, "It's just a dying struggle. It's useless. Instead, it's just a marriage for others. If it were us, maybe we would be embarrassed to destroy the alliance with Yuan Shao. But now Cao Cao has occupied Hebei, which is just right for us to send troops. We take the opportunity to occupy Hebei, so that there is only one Jingbei part left in Jiangbei. Isn't that great?"

After hearing this, Zhang Ji realized that everything was under his own plan. Although Cao Cao struggled, the final result was already destined, and his struggle was destined to be futile.

At this time, Hu Zhao also smiled and said, "Cao Cao thought he would have the capital to compete with us after he seized Hebei. But now Bingzhou is all owned by us. As long as he leaves Huguan, he can threaten Yecheng. Even if Cao Cao occupied Hebei, he will eventually be threatened by us. He will just drag it out for a while."

Pei Qing laughed and said nothing. Zhang Chao and Hu Zhao's ideas were exactly his. Cao Cao's strength seemed to be very strong, but due to the lack of talents and the lack of geographical advantages under his command, and his base often encountered wars, there was no territory that could provide supplies for a long time and peace and continuously. The gap with him was getting bigger and bigger, which fundamentally destined his final failure. However, now Pei Qing needs to use Cao Cao to help him seize the territory of the heroes occupied by Cao Cao, so he did not launch a full-scale attack. Otherwise, once the powerful talents and troops under Pei Qing were gathered together, Cao Cao would definitely fall into despair.

In fact, in the current situation, it does not mean that Pei Qing and the counselors under him are definitely more intelligent than Guo Jia, Xun Yu and others under Cao Cao's command. However, this is the current situation. Guo Jia and the others knew that they were really being used by Pei Qing, but they could only find ways to plan their own life as much as possible. As long as there was a chance, they would not let go of it. Therefore, he would do his best to plan for Cao Cao. In order to maintain his mental state, he would rather take Wushi Powder frequently to boost his spirit, and then relieve his fatigue by drinking after being extremely tired.

In order to further reduce the pressure on his side and avoid Pei Qing stabbing him in the back, Guo Jia finally thought about a plan, which was to incite Ma Chao to rebel in order to attract Pei Qing's attention.

After hearing this plan, Cao Cao immediately agreed. He immediately manipulated the court to pass an edict, appoint Ma Chao as the general of the Western Expedition, the governor of Yongzhou, and the title of Marquis of Huaili, and assigned the entire Youfufeng to the Yongzhou Governor's Office. This was very obvious, and he wanted Ma Chao to attack Youfufeng and cause trouble for Pei Qing.

After leaving Chen Cang, Ma Chao rode the Dayuan BMW and arrived in Hanyang County in just half a day, which was later Tianshui County. Ma Chao was immediately unanimously recognized by local officers and soldiers with the appointment of the imperial court and the identity of Ma Teng's eldest son. He quickly gathered his soldiers, rectified the soldiers, and continued to advance towards Longxi County. The counties along the way all surrendered. In just over ten days, most of Ma Teng's troops were collected and occupied the two counties of Tianshui and Longxi. At this time, someone in Jincheng County secretly organized a rebellion.

Ma Chao also didn't have the patience to find out who was organizing the rebellion, and directly led the army to fight in person. It took less than half a month to completely conquer Jincheng and kill all those involved in the rebellion. At the same time, Ma Chao personally brought troops to the Qiang tribe, threatening the Qiang people to hand over the mastermind behind the assassination of his father, Han Sui, and then killed Han Sui and his whole family with his own hands, without leaving any left, eventually defeating Han Sui's conspiracy, and at the same time also defeating the Qiang people's conspiracy to interfere in the Central Plains, re-establishing the Han people's dominance in Yongzhou.

Ma Chao then announced his appointment as the governor of Yongzhou and commanded all the troops in Yongzhou, and ordered the training of the army, the expansion of troops, and the allocation of food and grass.

Not long after, when Ma Chao's army was almost allocated, he suddenly heard another angel edict outside the door. Ma Chao was shocked. Could it be that the court had learned about his large-scale military expansion and preparation for war? Will he be punished?

However, Ma Chao could not refuse the door, so he had to order the emperor's envoy to come in and decided to take one step at a time.

Unexpectedly, the person who came was Zhong Yao. Ma Chao knew that this person belonged to Cao Cao. After seeing Zhong Yao, he suddenly understood in his heart. It seemed that this angel did not convey Pei Qing's intention, but Cao Cao's intention. Cao Cao and Pei Qing have been competing secretly. Could this time bring news that is beneficial to him?

The facts proved that Ma Chao's conjecture was correct. After a little greeting, Zhong Yao announced the emperor's edict, appointing Ma Chao as the governor of Yongzhou, the general of the Western Expedition, and the Marquis of Huaili, and incorporated You Fufeng into Yongzhou. He also instructed Ma Chao to do his best and defend his land, etc. Although he did not clearly say that Ma Chao would invade Pei Qing, it was obviously provocative.

When Ma Chao heard the news, he was overjoyed and patted Zhong Yao's chest and promised that he would definitely live up to the high expectations of the court.

What surprised Ma Chao even more was that Zhong Yao was appointed as the army to assist Ma Chao. Of course, there was a supervision and restriction on this.

Ma Chao didn't care about this at all. How could a literati really restrict himself? However, he lacked resourceful military advisors. Now with Zhong Yao's help, he naturally became even more unfavorable.

Ma Chao had the ambition to capture Pei Qing's territory, but now he had the imperial edict from the court, so he was naturally even more fearless. However, Ma Chao was not stupid. He knew that relying solely on his troops to attack Youfufeng, he was simply seeking death. However, if he took advantage of Pei Qing's unprepared to occupy Chen Cang first, and then sent people to defend Chen Cang to the death, and on the other hand, he joined forces with the Qiang people to occupy Wuwei and cut off the connection between Pei Qing's three counties in Hexi and Guanzhong. In this way, he might be able to win unexpectedly like Pei Qing captured Liangzhou, and he would also occupy the entire four towns in Hexi in one fell swoop.

You should know that the Silk Road has been opened. The four towns in Hexi are not only strategic military areas, but also a must-pass place for the transportation between China and the West. How many merchants are there every year? You only need to set up a checkpoint to collect taxes, which is a generous income. You use this income to support the army and continue to strengthen yourself. If there is nothing to do in the Central Plains, you will annex the Western Regions. If there is something to do in the Central Plains, you will advance eastward, occupy Guanzhong, and even compete for the Central Plains.
Chapter completed!